Here's how it works:It's based on the kids game snap, only with wild released books. I start off the game by releasing a book, posting here to say I released Book A by suchandsuchThe next person claims Snap. They then have 24 hours to release a book that matches book A (same keyword in title/author name - not counting 'the' 'a' etc...), and post about it hereThe next person to claim has 24 hours to release a matching book to the last one...and so on.

So, for example,I release: The End of Faithnext person releases: The End of Mr Ynext person releases: Mr Nobody's Eyes by michael morpurgonext person releases; Jurassic park by Michael crichtonand one and on...

* you have to claim the Snap, so that everyone else knows you're planning a release (don't say the book title at this point, otherwise people can plan in advance) - claims are first come first served* after claiming, you have 24 hours to make the release and tell us about it with a link to the book.* after 24 hours, if you didn't report back your release, your claim is invalid and other people can claim in your place. So, after 24 hours, the snap is back up for grabs. Until someone grabs it, a delayed release report will still count. But once someone else has claimed it, it's theirs (for 24 hours at least...)* you can't snap twice in a row - you can't snap your own release, as it were* wild releases only, no controlled releases

Don't be put off by our incredibly long list of rules – the game is actually incredibly simple, it's just that we enjoy working out the details!

Words that can snap:* keywords with title/author only, not 'the','a','and', etc. To help you work out what is a keyword and what is not, consider what words you might search a database for, or ask a bookstore clerk when you can't quite remember the exact title.* Flipping between plural/singular of words is allowed - so if I release The Beach, you can release Beaches (and vice versa)*flipping between tenses of a word is allowed - so if I release 'The Slap' you can release 'Slapped by an invisible hand' (and vice versa)*splitting and forming compound words is allowed - so if I release 'The Sea', you can release 'The seagull' (and vice versa). But you CANNOT release 'The Seasons,' because that is a separate word that just happens to contain the same letters - not a compound. Compound words are amalgamations of two words, both retaining their meaning, to form one new word.* You can snap on numbers featured in the title, and you can transform numbers between digit and letter form (from 6 to six and vice-versa). You can also add or remove a 'th' (so you can go from 6 to sixth or 6th). But you cannot snap using embedded numbers - so you cannot go from 1984 to 84 (or 38198427)*embedded words are NOT allowed* subtitles: whether the subtitle is available for snapping or not is up to the person who releases the book. If you think the subtitle of your release is a significant part of the title, please include that information in your post. the same applies to the inclusion / exclusion of illustrators, adapters, collection editors et al.* non-english books are welcome to - use a translation of the title to snap with, and provide us with the translation when you post so that people can use that to snap back ;) So, if I release The Prisoner, you are welcome to snap that with Harry Potter et le Prisonnier d'Azkaban, and vise versa* you cannot snap a book with the same book (but repeats of books from earlier in the game are fine), unless you have a copy printed under an alternate or foreign-language title (using the author name as the snapped-word)* Author names snapped must be an exact match. Anne is not Anna or Ann. Richard is not Dick or Rich. Vikki is most certainly not Victoria ;)* Author names that also have another meaning can be snapped using it as such - you can snap a Stephen King book with Once And Only King

In the case of an unsnappable book;when a book has gone 24 hours with no one snapping it, GoG will make an announcement that it is deemed unsnappable. She will then release a new, unrelated book to be snapped on, and the game will continue from there. Until GoG's declaration of unsnappabilty, the book may still be snapped on (eg if GoG is asleep when the 24 hour mark passes, the book remains in play and open to snapping until such point as she awakens and announces)

>> If you are snapping, please check it is on the most recent book. The game will at some point run over multiple pages (the woes of popularity, eh?) so be sure to view the latest one (depending on the way you view the forum posts) <<

It's just for fun, no points or prizes or the like, though there is a list of the books released for this game here http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/471178 (maintained by Wolfie, thankyou!)and....I will provide a prize for the first person who wild releases a snap game book by strapping it to a duck. (Without hurting the duck. Duck-torture will be punished with a life-long snap ban.)

you don't need to sign up or anything - just jump in when you can

The specific rules of this game have become very much a community work, everyone throwing in their two cents as any issues or ideas arise, so do feel free to contribute or provide feedback. Here's the original thread in case you want to look back over how we got to this point; http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/470285

Tip: In some cases, two people snap at almost the same time, and the forum postings can go out of order. When this happens, look at the addresses of the individual postings (either by clicking through to them, or hover over the link and look in the status bar of your browser) - the last number of the links is the chronological order of the posting - the first one (ie the lower number) wins

Regular Players: Although it is not a hard and fast rule, it is considered good etiquette for frequent snappers not to take *too* long to release their book :D